Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to lose my way with words…

Month: September 2008

This past Saturday Jen, Luke, and I had a girlie movie night at our place. Luke provided the movies and we provided the dinner/snacks. Don’t worry, Luke likes chick flicks, so he was a willing participant. We ate taco rice and then proceeded to watch three movies: Another Cinderella Story, What Happens in Vegas, and Iron Man. Okay, okay, so Iron Man is definitely not a girlie movie, but after the awesomeness of the first two, we just felt that another one might spoil the whole mood. But we had a great time and I think that we should plan another one in the near future. So, if you know any good girlie movies, please recommend away. And also, I highly recommend any of the three movies that we watched. They were all excellent!

Well, I made it to the immigration office today and I’m officially in process for a new visa. And although it completely sucked that I had to wait there for an hour (yeah, I got 171 and they were on 150), it all ended well because I managed the whole application process in Japanese. I felt very happy and hopefully that will reflect well on the application.

But before all that, I had to go to the city hall for some paperwork. On my way back to the station, I put on my brave pants and went to the bicycle shop. I managed to explain my problem and the sweet grandma who works there helped me with no problems. And actually, my back tire was fixed in the space of one minute. The front tire took a bit longer because she discovered that the inner tube had a puncture. So after about 15 minutes total of her working and us chatting about America in Japanese my bike was as good as new. And she even did a complete checkup and tweaked a few problem areas. And the best part was that it was so so cheap!! Part of me hopes that my bike will have more problems so that I can go again and talk with her. She was so friendly and helpful!

It’s officially fall and the weather seems to be cooperating with its season thus far. We’ll see how it goes. But here are a few things that I like about fall in Japan.

1. In Japan, Fall Equinox is a national holiday, so I had the day off work to celebrate the changing of the seasons.

2. It’s perfect weather for a hot drink in the morning, cold drinks during the day, and a cup of hot tea after work. It’s really the best of both worlds.

3. I can sleep with my balcony door open, but I don’t need to have the fan on.

4. Humidity is on the decline.

5. Japan loves fall fruits and vegetables, so there are starting to be some really great flavors and foods out right now for the season.

6. Winter never comes busting in halfway through October acting like it owns the place. It’s more like the opposite- fall is a pretty strong competitor over here, while winter just cowers in the corner until the end of December.

You know, I remember watching George of the Jungle when I was a kid, the live action movie with Brenden Frasier, not the cartoon. In the movie were two poachers who were living in Africa. Well, they got caught and the African government deported them. I remember thinking that deportation was not really such a bad punishment for poaching animals. But I had no idea back then all the effort required for living in another country. And suddenly, if I don’t get my butt in gear, I could be facing possible deportation myself.

On the sixth of October, I will have officially been in Japan for one year! Yay! But that also means that I have to get my visa renewed because it was only good for one year. Boo! So, I have almost all the necessary paperwork, I just lack the motivation to do it. So, today is visa day. After I eat breakfast and get ready, I’m going to start the journey to renewal. If only that were a slogan for a spa instead of a trip to the immigration office. And it’s an overcast day, so that does not add to the motivation levels.

But you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to keep your job and avoid illegal activity. So, off I go!

My favorite flavor of Jelly Belly jelly beans is, without a doubt, buttered popcorn. A strange choice I know, but I could eat a whole box of them and be completley happy. Good thing Jen doesn’t like them!